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The Ahmed family, who moved to Toronto from Saudi Arabia in 2011, and the Iqbalhs, who arrived from Pakistan just last May, will be among 500 Muslim immigrants checking in at a Family Day event designed to help them adjust — emotionally and physically — to life in the city.

It’s called Circle of Health — Wellness Program for Newcomers, a project created by the North American Muslim Foundation to offer the support and information that’s vital to becoming part of a new community.

Sabina Ahmed and her son, Rayyan, 9, have learned healthy eating habits through the Circle of Life. (Michelle Siu for the Toronto Star)

Sabina Ahmed for example, giggles when she confesses her meat-loving husband, Riyaz, wasn’t keen to change his diet. But his elevated blood pressure — there’s a family history of hypertension — had been even higher since the couple moved here with their son in 2011, their second big move since they left India, their homeland. “It was really tough because of the job, the stress,” she says.

Tips for healthy eating and living were available to them at the free bi-weekly Circle of Health workshops that began in December, tackling subjects such as stress management; the effects of food on mood; and healthy ethnic cooking.

The program was put together with seed money from Grants Ontario, says Camille Mohammed, the foundation’s program co-ordinator, who developed the sessions and materials in Urdu, Fasrsi, Dari, Hindi, Mandarin and Telugu.

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“We have peer mental-health survivors, who discuss how they’ve settled,” Mohammed says. “They have the same kind of background and experience as some of the newcomers, so they feel more comfortable interacting and discussing what they’re going through.”

The sessions have helped connect their family to their community, says Salma Iqbalh, who immigrated with her husband and two teenage boys. “For me and my husband, it is a big change,” she says.

There will be two Circles of Health sessions in March.

For Family Day, organizers have planned kids’ activities, films and booths for small businesses and entrepreneurs, in addition to smaller food and health-promotion workshops,

Dietary habits, a key part of cultural identity, can be difficult to change. But the mental-health components can be even more important, Mohammed says. “There is a big stigma attached,” she says. “I knew that was something I wanted to address and I knew it wasn’t being addressed in the Muslim community.”

For newcomers, employment, housing, culture, climate and language are all triggers for stress. Many aren’t sure why they’re sad, anxious and stressed, says Gulshan Alibhai, of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Alibhai was 5 when her family came from Uganda. Her parents thought they made good food choices with fast food. “When I go and talk about my experience, they almost always have an aha moment,” she says. “They start looking at how the junk food and fast food affects their mental health.”

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Session leaders are able to refer participants to outside resources. “The major thing that it is providing is taking people out of isolation." Mohammed says.

The Ahmed family has certainly benefited from the circle. Before, their diet had few vegetables, little fruit and no whole grains. Now Sabinasays she feels light after meals. But the biggest change is with her husband.

He’s lost weight, he’s exercising, his blood pressure has improved and he’s even attended some of the sessions, she says. As for the diet, “Now it’s easy,” she says.

The free Family Day celebration is on Feb. 18 from 3:30 to 5 p.m., at the North American Muslim Foundation Islamic Centre, 4140 Finch Ave E. For more information, call 416-299-1969.

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